It’s been a busy week for linebackers coach and defensive coordinator Bob Diaco. After picking up a pledge from outside linebacker prospect Danny Mattingly earlier in the week, South Florida inside linebacker Michael Deeb committed to Notre Dame today, making the announcement via Twitter.

“Thankful and blessed to make the decision to commit to THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME,” Deeb tweeted.

At 6-foot-2, 237-pounds, Deeb is every bit the prototype for the position, one of the best prospects in South Florida and a physical specimen that fills one of two spots at his position in the recruiting class. He had offers from Florida State, Penn State, Ole Miss, USF and Boise State among the nearly thirty offers he’s collected before accepting a scholarship that’s been on the table since mid-May.

Deeb captained his American Heritage team last year as a junior, his first season at the school after transferring from Archibishop McCarthy, where he also captained the squad as a sophomore. Noted as a vocal leader and a leader by example, Deeb’s physicality is one of his most impressive assets at this point in his career.

“In the fourth quarter, the guy who’s not tired is going to perform the best,” Deeb told GatorCountry.com. “From the beginning of the play to the end, my job is to hit the opponent as hard as I can. There are no friends once you go on the field. It’s a game. The game is physical. It’s not for the soft and weak-hearted, so I give it my best.”

Deeb visited South Bend last week with touted teammate Sony Michel, a junior running back that already has offers from Alabama, Florida, Florida State, and Miami. It didn’t take long after that for Deeb to see himself permanently in an Irish uniform.

“The visit was great,” Deeb told Rivals.com. “Just the fact that you walk in and the facilities and players’ apparel is incredible. All of the stuff at the school is great, but every Division I school is going to have that. What set them apart was meeting with the business school advisors, which is what I want to major in, as well as the academic advisors, I knew that was the place for me. Also, the faith aspect with visiting the church, and some of the mentors and priest. It is just a special place in that I think it offers a lot more than just football.”

As the 16th commitment of the Irish class of 2013, he leaves one spot left at inside linebacker, presumably for coveted prospect Alex Anzalone. He also adds another inside linebacker to the future depth chart, a position that’ll say goodbye to Manti Te’o this season, and has seniors Dan Fox and Carlo Calabrese with fifth years of eligibility.

Deeb has said he’s closing his recruitment and plans to sign with the Irish in February. He had 90 tackles during his junior season as well as five interceptions.

Boy if he really plays like he talks, he ll be fun to watch. Michael Deeb, cmonnn down! We got a lot of room for tough talking son of a guns like your self on this team. Even if you get on the field for one play, please back it up!

16 commits before Independence Day. I’m always excited to see top players that want to go to Notre Dame, but it’s crazy seeing such a high percentage of a class locked into place when they’re only 1/2 or 2/3 of their way through a high school career.

Then again, Freddie Coleman on ESPN radio last weekend proclaimed that “No top player in the South could seriously listen to a pitch from Brian Kelly” and reality continues to trump so many of ESPN and the media’s talking heads. Go.Irish.

Players from the south make up 25 percent of the Irish class. ESPN has its own beliefs about recruiting and then there is the real world. What is also funny is how Gunner Kiel managed to drop 30 spots on the 150 after he committed to ND…ESPN lives in its own world.

It was an absurd comment fishing for reactions. I tweeted at Coleman to do some homework and read a roster and he read it on the air and moved on to claim that ND’s roster has been the “same talent level as Navy & Air Force for more than a decade.” My bad for feeding the ESPN trolls, but more shocking those claims are tolerated at any network.

Hey Nude! Long time no see. You’re right that he’s an idiot. I was stuck in the car awaiting something to get picked up & had the show on. If I could get the audio I would love to dissect all the ridiculous stuff he said for a fun game.

The DE from Florida who should not be named has nothing in common with Deeb. I never once heard him say what Deeb just said. This was another great pick up adding a guy who wants to play a physical, hard hitting brand of defense. More importantly he was to get an education. He loves Notre Dame and playing for a faith based university.

See Nude and 4evr these are the players I was talking about. Add in our last verbal committed player Mattingly and you have two prototype players who want to play for Notre Dame. Add in his teammate next season Sony Michel just like we have several other players thinking about Notre Dame because of Jaylon Smith.

As long as a poor quarter back decisions this season doesn’t mess this all up things are looking up higher than Notre Dame football has dared to look for in decades. These large recruiting parties that the team has hosted this off season reminds me of the days of Lou Holtz. I remember huge groups of high quality prospects visiting the Notre Dame campus several times over the summer just like
this summer.

paiten
I am 100% on board with Kelly as a recruiter. His whole staff seems great at that.
And I agree about the type of guys he’s bringing in, AND the fact that he’s building a complete roster, including OL, DL, D in general, etc. Very unlike his immediate predecessor.

Those things are hands down better today than in a long, long time.

Having said that, I pay much closer attention to recruiting now than ever before, so it’s hard for me to compare the attitude and zeal for ND that he’s bringing in vs CW. I’m sure there were talented guys CW brought in who said all the same things about ND that guys like Deeb said. Clausen was very into being an ND guy. Crist too. There were others.

I’m not disagreeing necessarily; but it’s easy to get carried away about recruiting wins when you see tapes of them creaming other HS players, saying great things about ND, going to all these camps, getting accolades and 4/5 star ratings.

WHoa. Let’s wait and see how these guys pan out. But it is great to have reason for optimism.

Well Charlie W only did a great job on a limited basis with his recruiting only hitting
Certain positions. As you pointed out many of his top recruits played quarter back while adding one highly touted player Like Manti or Harrison Smith.

What still scares me is that so far Brian or Charlie haven’t brought out the best out of the star players they’ve recruited. I know we would all like to see all these players succeed beyond their talents.

Not that its a big deal, but Harrison Smith would have been classified as another Notre Dame highly touted player to flop if BK/ Bob Diace/ Chuck Martin wouldnt have came in, used his athleticism, gave him consistency in positions, saved his career and ultimately made him into a first rounder. CW would have done none of the above. The current staff deserves a ton of credit for Hayseed.

He was pretty good on the run, a hard hitter, an athletic player, and I guess he was a team leader. So I don’t consider him a “bust”.

But he and Motta combined for exactly 1 INT last year, if I’m correct.

One. Uno.

People can blame others – the CBs, the LBs, the scheme. I don’t buy that in the world of “everyone is accountable”. Besides, the D line was solid and regularly put pressure on the QB. Smith always seemed to arrive a step late in coverage.

I don’t know how you go through an entire year playing safety for ND, being on the field for maybe 80% or more of the D snaps, not get a single pick, and them amazingly go in the 1st round.

Nude, Harrison had what, 7 picks his junior year, and you don’t think the corners had anything to do with only 1 pick his senior year? Really?.You must know more than pro scouts who see players on a professional level on a daily basis. A lot of people on this site are hoping a the defensive line puts enough pressure on the QQ to take it off our cb’s, so you don’t see a corrrelation of how one position affects another, especially when corners aren’t turning and looking for the ball. No correlation there??? Harrison must of lost a step in is old age….or something…..

With all due respect, I hold guys who evaluate players for a living (Both NFL scouts and even bums like Kiper McShay) opinions higher than I am going to a random fan from Arizona. The comment is defensible. He had 7 picks as a JR, then teams noticed and stopped throwing his way. Many, many people noticed this trend that you choose to ignore. There is a reason he was a 1st rounder, and its not just because he was a good tackler.

dmac
With all due respect, I can not recall ever hearing an announcer say “they’re staying away from Harrison Smith’s side of the field, and for good reason”.

He had zero INTs in 2011 and you and others are making excuses.
I’ve acknowledged he was a good ND guy and not without his positives.
Not tossing him under the bus at all.
But “ball hawk” will not be on his tombstone.

I’m just happy to see defensive recruiting a priority. Defense does win championships, see Alabama, LSU, USC (circa early 2000’s), and even Auburn. Cam got the highlights but they held Oregon to around 20 points.

This Notre Dame team on the defensive side of the ball is bigger and faster than any Irish team of the last 2 decades. It looks to be getting even bigger and faster over the next few years. All he Irish need now is a mistake free accurate QB with a fast tough offense. The one major need is a down field big time WR.

Yes, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic. When your only need on offense is a big time (and, hopefully physically big) WR, assuming one of the 4 QBs can turn into that accurate passer; things are indeed looking good. If we didn’t have the letdowns earlier in the year (Darby, Shepard, Lynch and Dingleberry), things would definitely look much better; even for 2012.

We are complaining that Kelly didn’t overachieve in the last couple of years, but he didn’t really underachieve either. Even with all those mistakes in O and D, we were only a couple of plays away from an 11-2 season (Stanford and USC were legitimate losses). While that would look good on paper, that would also mean another year with beloved Tommy (I wonder where the backers went lately, everyone seems to dislike him these days) since we would be hearing more of “ZOMG, look at his record, how can you not start him (forget the 14 interceptions or the countless fumbles and inability to throw accurately beyond 5 yards)?”. We would likely take a step back in 2012, esp. with this schedule, at a time when we can’t afford to take a step back.

Anybody else heard this: There is a LB that ND is recruiting from the same High School as Manti. Savaiinaea (He is 4 or 5 star depending on rating service for those who care about the star system) is already given a verbal to Stanford, but ND is making an impression. I looking for more reliable information anybody?

As the new revelations of a cover up continue to emerge, many in the media are again calling for increased sanctions on PSU. I’ve even heard “death penalty”.

They’ve had a pedophile closely involved in their program, he’s scarred the lives of tens of young boys (now men), he’s been indicted, tried and convicted, and PSU has obviously worked hard to cover the thing up for years. And lied about it. AND IT KEEPS GETTING WORSE.

AND THERE ARE NO PENALTIES FOR THIS???

What am I missing here?
Earth to NCAA? Anybody home? This is disgraceful.

If I’m a highly recruited kid I wouldn’t touch that program with a 10 ft pole.
Wouldn’t even visit.

OK – I admit I’m gettin’ a little old (69) and maybe a bit out of touch. Can someone explain to me how a recruit, & his family, can re-open a commitment to one program (tOSU) because a pedophile was @ a recruiting function – only to even consider a program (PSU) that is going thru a scandal – the magnitude of the one @ PSU?